Refused entry at Wellington Qantas Lounge as QF Plat flying JQ

[jetset]

Hey guys,
I was flying from Wellington to Gold Coast JQ as a QF plat and the Qantas staff at the Qantas Wellington Lounge refused me access.
They stated that no JQ passengers have access regardless of status.

Is that correct? I thought Gold/Plat QF status would enable access to international Qantas lounges on JQ. The Qantas website has a green tick for Jetstar
Lounge was otherwise empty for what its worth.

Cheers.

 

[Mwenenzi]

Not correct.

Qantas Lounge Access Eligibility | Qantas

Find out more on Qantas Lounge access eligibility whether your traveling in First, Business; are a Qantas Frequent Flyer, Qantas Club or oneworld member.

www.qantas.com

Find lounge access based on your eligible flight for Qantas Frequent Flyer, Qantas Club, Emirates and oneworld® memberships for your Qantas, Emirates, Jetstar, China Eastern and oneworld® flight. Flying First or Business with Qantas, Emirates or Jetstar? Check eligible travel class for lounge access. Have a Complimentary Lounge pass? Find out how to link it to your booking to access the lounge.

Last week flying JQi from CHC I entered the 3rd party QF lounge (as always)

Would make a complaint. But expect it will go no where
On line or Qantas Frequent Flyer <[email protected]>

 

[jase05]

Hey guys,
I was flying from Wellington to Gold Coast JQ as a QF plat and the Qantas staff at the Qantas Wellington Lounge refused me access.
They stated that no JQ passengers have access regardless of status.

Is that correct? I thought Gold/Plat QF status would enable access to international Qantas lounges on JQ. The Qantas website has a green tick for Jetstar
Lounge was otherwise empty for what its worth.

Cheers.

As much as I’d love that to be true at all QF lounges, the information you have been given is incorrect and the staff member was wrong

 

[Mattg]

You should have been allowed in.

If you're still at the airport, it may be worth showing the relevant page on the Qantas website to the staff member on reception at the Qantas lounge?

 

[Lynda2475]

Im in the WLG J lounge now, not missing much they have no barista! Looks like i will have to pay for a coffee outside amongst the great unwashed.

They do have ice cream and rośe though. Only hot option is cheese &broccoli or mac 'n cheese bites.

On Sundays the QfJ lounge only opens at 12:45pm exactly 2 hours before first QF flight of the day which is to Melbourne at 2:45pm. So if on the JQ would have only had 10mins til boarding. By 1pm lounge was chockers.

 

[serfty]

If you're still at the airport

It's scheduled departure was 1:25pm (15 minutes ago)..

 

[jetset]

Thanks for clarifying guys. I will write a complaint.

This experience has really shaken my faith in Qantas. I find it unthinkable that their lounge staff would not know their own lounge entry rules. What a shambles.

Next time I will stand my ground and argue and show them their own website.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Thanks for clarifying guys. I will write a complaint.

This experience has really shaken my faith in Qantas. I find it unthinkable that their lounge staff would not know their own lounge entry rules. What a shambles.

Next time I will stand my ground and argue and show them their own website.

In your email to QF I would be specific in asking for compensation… either $25 for food and beverage, or 5000 points. If you’re not specific you might get an apology but nothing else.

 

[Brissy1]

Im in the WLG J lounge now, not missing much they have no barista! Looks like i will have to pay for a coffee outside amongst the great unwashed.

They do have ice cream and rośe though. Only hot option is cheese &broccoli or mac 'n cheese bites.

On Sundays the QfJ lounge only opens at 12:45pm exactly 2 hours before first QF flight of the day which is to Melbourne at 2:45pm. So if on the JQ would have only had 10mins til boarding. By 1pm lounge was chockers.

I read that as you're in the Walgett J lounge (Walgett airport icao code YWLG) and going outside amongst the Great Unwashed

 

[moa999]

So if on the JQ would have only had 10mins til boarding. By 1pm lounge was chockers.

Strange then they didn't quote that (OP had presumably tried entry prior to 12.45)
Or otherwise used capacity card based on expected number of elites on the QF flight

 

[Quickstatus]

otherwise used capacity card

Apparently @jetset was told JQ pax not allowed with out without status rather than capacity

 

[Lynda2475]

I read that as you're in the Walgett J lounge (Walgett airport icao code YWLG) and going outside amongst the Great Unwashed

Nope WLG is the IATA code for Welington International NZ.

Strange then they didn't quote that (OP had presumably tried entry prior to 12.45)
Or otherwise used capacity card based on expected number of elites on the QF flight

My bad I got Saturday and Sunday mixed up.

Lounge opening hours:

• Daily: 4:00am to 6:00am
• Monday, Tuesday, Friday and Saturday. 12:45pm to 4:00pm.
• Wednesday and Sunday 12:00pm to 4:00pm.

https://www.qantas.com/au/en/qantas-experience/at-the-airport/airport-lounges/all-qantas-airport-lounges/airport-lounge-locations.html/wlg/International%20Business%20Lounge

Always useful to have the QF page for entry criteria book marked so you can show policy to lounge dragon if needed,

 

[Quickstatus]

Walgett airport icao code YWLG

Yes correct but the IATA code is WGE

Wellington airport ICAO is NZWN but IATA is WLG

In these forums most people tend to use IATA
The industry in the US uses ICAO : Kxx_x which is different to IATA only with the K.

ICAO codes in AU start with Y while in England it starts with E

In other parts of the world the ICAO may differ markedly from IATA.

 

[flyingfan]

Next time I will stand my ground and argue and show them their own website.

I’d be careful about arguing too far - they may decide you’re a threat and call the police, which would add far worse than insult to injury. You don’t want to be right but banned from flying. Others carry printouts of the lounge T&CS (sad it’s come to this). By all means complain, draw their attention to their own T&Cs, shame them on social media, even raise a consumer case for false advertising. But I’d hate to see them have an excuse to treat you even more badly.

 

[aikman]

I’d be careful about arguing too far - they may decide you’re a threat and call the police, which would add far worse than insult to injury. You don’t want to be right but banned from flying. Others carry printouts of the lounge T&CS (sad it’s come to this). By all means complain, draw their attention to their own T&Cs, shame them on social media, even raise a consumer case for false advertising. But I’d hate to see them have an excuse to treat you even more badly.

Agreed. Telling someone how to do their job doesn't always end well.

Then again they need to be corrected if they are wrong.

It's a fine line.

 

[jpp42]

The industry in the US uses ICAO : Kxx_x which is different to IATA only with the K.

Off topic but may be of interest - Alaska and Hawaii use "PA" and "PH" prefixes respectively (followed by two-letter airport codes), with the "P" referring to the Pacific area. Also, some IATA codes refer to entities which aren't of relevance to ICAO, such as city codes (TYO, LON, NYC), or train stations (e.g. ZYP for New York Penn or ZYR for Brussels-Midi) - these have no equivalent ICAO code.

 

[Mattg]

I'm just going to leave this here...

The Easiest Way to Disappoint Frequent Flyers

Flight delays, missing luggage, broken in-flight entertainment systems, seat swaps... there are plenty of things that could annoy frequent travellers. But

www.australianfrequentflyer.com.au

 

[justinbrett]

Yes correct but the IATA code is WGE

Wellington airport ICAO is NZWN but IATA is WLG

In these forums most people tend to use IATA
The industry in the US uses ICAO : Kxx_x which is different to IATA only with the K.

ICAO codes in AU start with Y while in England it starts with E

In other parts of the world the ICAO may differ markedly from IATA.

Close, but not quite...

England (and the rest of GB) starts with EG. E is northern Europe (L is southern Europe)

As for the US, there's actually a third code - FAA, which is usually the same as the IATA code. The ICAO code is K + FAA, not IATA. In the limited examples where IATA and FAA codes are different, you'll see it's the FAA code that you need to get the ICAO code, not IATA.

For example, KSAW, Sawyer International Airport, IATA is MQT.

Basically IATA almost never changes (hence why PEK/BOM etc still use the old city names) but ICAO is quite easy to change. Examples here would be YBMC changed to YBSU (but IATA still MCY), or YWOL changed to YSHL (still WOL).

 

[henrus]

This is quite surprising because in the South Island the 3rd party lounges at CHC and ZQN both allow JQ pax with QF Club/Status which is an exception to the usual 3rd party rules.

 

[kangarooflyer88]

As much as I’d love that to be true at all QF lounges, the information you have been given is incorrect and the staff member was wrong

As someone who is a QF Gold and takes pride in flying on JQ MAX sale fares to earn status, I take exception to such remarks!

You should have been allowed in.

If you're still at the airport, it may be worth showing the relevant page on the Qantas website to the staff member on reception at the Qantas lounge?

Next time I will stand my ground and argue and show them their own website.

As others have pointed out, yes per the QF website you should have been allowed in, no debate there. What is important to remember, particularly at outstations like WLG is that airline staff won't be trained as much on such nuances and may even disregard the information you show directly from the airline's website. To give you a concrete example of this, I was flying AC back in late July from LAX to Toronto on a United issued ticket. I wanted to apply the eUpgrade credits I earned to the flight to upgrade my Comfort fare to J. Per the website, since I'm on a United issued ticket, I must make the request in person at the airport at check-in time (i.e. T-24). I visit LAX at T-24 to request the check-in and was told sorry that can't be done since your ticket wasn't issued by AC. I showed them the AC website stating that such a request could be made, they checked with a station manager and was told the same story, "sorry can't be done!" Rather than arguing, I thought oh well, I'll try again tomorrow at the gate when my flight departs. Did the same dance, got the same results.

How do you address these things? Honestly, I think a well written email to executives and/or the loyalty department will go a long way. Certainly, I'm now less inclined to chase AC elite status and an AC flight knowing that they won't honour eUpgrade requests.